Month: February 2012

EU LAUNCHES FREE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH ARMENIA

Reuters
Feb 20 2012

BRUSSELS Feb 20 (Reuters) – The European Union plans to launch
negotiations on a free trade area (FTA) with Armenia soon in order
to boost trade and investment with the Caucasus country.

Talks will cover market access EU.conditions, as well as bringing
rules in other countries closer to those in the EU so their local
manufacturers meet EU standards. The moves are aimed at helping
Armenia integrate more with the

“The EU is Armenia’s first trading partner,” EU Trade Commissioner
Karel De Gucht said in a statement.

“A deep and comprehensive free trade area will give Armenia a more
favourable access to the European Single Market thereby helping to
boost economic growth in the country.”

It did not say when the talks would start.

The EU has been negotiating a broader Association Agreement with
Armenia since July 2010, a type of agreement the EU uses to persuade
third countries to make commitments to political, economic, trade,
or human rights reform.

Armenia has made significant reforms recently in technical regulations,
sanitary measures and the protection of intellectual property, the
Commission said.

The EU was Armenia’s biggest trading partner in 2011, with bilateral
trade amounting to 960 million euros. The country already benefits
from low import duties to the EU. (Reporting By Sebastian Moffett
Editing by Maria Golovnina)

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SUMMONS COMMANDERS

Vestnik Kavkaza
Feb 20 2012
Russia

The Armenian Defense Ministry has started a three-day gathering of
commanders of the Armed Forces, Armenia Today reports.

Officers will be informed about the plan for development of the
Armed Forces, domestic and foreign policy, cooperation, improvement
of skills.

The first lecture for officers will be read by Defense Minister
Seyran Oganyan. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Secretary of National
Security Council Artur Bagdasaryan, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian,
head of the General Staff Yuri Khachaturov and other officials will
makes speeches.

EU LAUNCHES TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH ARMENIA
By Martin Banks

TheParliament.com

Feb 20 2012

The EU has launched negotiations on a “deep and comprehensive” free
trade area with Armenia.

The move, announced on Monday, is designed to boost economic growth
and investment.

European trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the negotiations will
cover matters that have become “crucial to a modern, transparent and
predictable trade and investment environment”.

They will not only tackle market access conditions but also focus on
regulatory approximation, which, says the commissioner, will help to
achieve a closer economic integration of Armenia with the EU.

He said, “The opening of free trade negotiations mark a turning point
in our trade relations with Armenia. We are entering a new phase that
will bring our economic ties to a new level of depth and ambition.

“The EU is Armenia’s first trading partner and a deep and comprehensive
free trade area will give Armenia a more favourable access to the
European single market thereby helping to boost economic growth in
the country.”

His comments are echoed by European enlargement and neighbourhood
policy commissioner tefan Fule, who said, “This is a further sign
of the strengthening of our political and economic ties.

“Launching such negotiations is one more step towards closer economic
integration which is one of the cornerstones of our relations with
countries of Eastern partnership.”

He said the free trade area will be part of the broader association
agreement which has been negotiated with Armenia since July 2010.

An EU source said, “The EU aims to enhance political stability and
security in this country by means of closer economic integration with
the EU.

“The free trade area is expected to diversify and strengthen Armenia’s
export capacity and effectively open the way to access the EU market
of 500 million consumers.

“Armenia needs to continue its work towards reaching a stable,
transparent and predictable economic environment. This is essential
to attract foreign direct investment inflows, leading to job creation
and long-term growth.

“The most important gains for Armenia lie therefore behind the border,
in regulatory reforms, and as such will impact on its long-term
development perspective.”

The EU has been negotiating an association agreement with Armenia
since July 2010.

The launch of the trade negotiations is conditional upon Armenia
fulfilling a set of “key recommendations” which cover reforms in what
the EU says are key regulatory areas related to trade, in order to
prepare Armenia for the upcoming negotiations.

CHURCHES FORCED TO STOP FARSI WORSHIP IN TEHRAN, IRAN

Christian Post

Feb 20 2012

Ministry of Intelligence issues halt to services, which attracted
converts.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially
registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran
to discontinue them.

Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter’s Evangelical Church were
the last two official churches offering Farsi-language services on
Fridays in Tehran, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials
issued the order on Feb. 10

Authorities had ordered the Central Church of Tehran to close
its Friday Farsi services in December 2009. The Central Church, an
Assemblies of God (AOG) congregation, had conducted multiple services
on Fridays.

Friday services in Tehran attracted the city’s converts to Christianity
as well as Muslims interested in Christianity, as Friday is most
Iranians’ day off during the week. Authorities told the churches they
can hold the services on Sunday, a working day when most Iranians
are not able to attend.

“This decision means that there are now no Farsi-language services
on Fridays in any officially registered church in Tehran,” an MEC
report issued this week stated.

Emmanuel and St. Peter’s are Presbyterian churches, and, along with
the Central Church, are among Tehran’s few registered churches. They
exist mainly to serve the Armenian and Assyrian communities. The three
churches’ Armenian- and Assyrian- language services are typically
held on Sundays.

WAR WITH IRAN COULD REVERBERATE ACROSS GLOBE

Post Noon

Feb 20 2012

The Middle East and the West aren’t the only regions that would be
hit by an Iran-Israel war

TBILISI: After two apparent assassination attempts against
Israeli diplomats in the South Caucasus, many fear this fractured
and strategically important region is being pulled into the rising
tensions between the West and Iran.

On Monday, police defused a “magnetic bomb” attached to a car belonging
to a local driver for the Israeli embassy in Georgia. On the same day,
a bomb exploded on an Israeli embassy vehicle in New Dehli, injuring
several, including the Israeli defense attache’s wife.

The attempted bombing in Georgia came less than three weeks after
the government of neighboring Azerbaijan announced it had arrested
three men who had been recruited and paid to assassinate the Israeli
ambassador to Azerbaijan and later attack a Jewish school in the
country.

Tehran accused Azerbaijan Monday of aiding Israeli intelligence
forces in assassinating Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an Iranian nuclear
scientist who was also killed by a bomb magnetically attached to
his car in early January. At the time, a top Iranian official told a
local newspaper that “Iran’s reaction will extend beyond the borders
and beyond the region.”

The official added: “None of those who ordered these attacks should
feel safe anywhere.”

All three countries that comprise the South Caucasus – Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Armenia – maintain important relationships with both the
West and Iran. Conflict between these two sides could destabilize
the fragile, but strategically crucial peace in the region.

Azerbaijan: Fears of an Iranian invasion

Azerbaijan is a major supplier of both natural gas and oil for Europe,
and several pipeline projects designed to reduce the EU’s energy
dependence on Russia require Georgian territory and Azerbaijani
resources.

The two countries are also key links in the Northern Distribution
Network, a transit route supplying ISAF forces in Afghanistan. Since
Pakistan closed its borders to NATO air and ground transit in
November 2011, this route is now the only means for the alliance to
get personnel and materials in and out of Afghanistan.

Since the revelation of the alleged Iranian assassination plot,
Azerbaijan and Iran have been furiously trading accusations. Tehran
has often threatened Azerbaijan with invasion should it allow Western
countries to use its territory in support of an operation against Iran.

Georgia: Caught in the middle

Georgian authorities, meanwhile, have been cautious to assess blame
in the foiled bombing in its capital, Tbilisi, although Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly pointed to Iran in the attacks.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the Georgian Interior Ministry’s analytical
department publicly noted the similarities between the descriptions
of the defused bomb and the one used to kill the Iranian scientist,
and said it was designed to target the car’s passengers. Other top
officials have downplayed the link, however, noting that the bomb
was found on the driver’s personal car, not an embassy vehicle.

Furthermore, pro-government TV channels have made little mention of
the incident in domestic news broadcasts.

Georgia has cultivated close ties with Tehran since its brief 2008 war
with Russia, signing a visa-free travel agreement with the Islamic
Republic and opening up greater economic, academic and commercial
links in various agreements with the country.

Armenia: Trying to stick close to Iran

The country perhaps most vulnerable to the shifting circumstances is
Armenia, which relies on Iran for crucial political support and as a
route for about one third of its trade. Due to an ongoing territorial
dispute with Azerbaijan, Armenia’s borders with both Azerbaijan and
Turkey have been closed since the early 1990s. It relies on Iran and
Russia – through Georgian territory – for its trade and energy supply.

Analysts in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, worry that a damaged
or preoccupied Iran could reopen its on-again-off-again war with
Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Russian factor

Meanwhile, Russia has announced it will hold military exercises
in the South Caucasus this year that are unprecedented in scale,
involving not only its units in its own North Caucasus territory,
but also battalions stationed in Armenia and the Georgian breakaway
republic of Abkhazia. Over the past year, Russian officials have often
warned that foreign intervention in either Syria or Iran could lead
to a “wider conflict” in the region. Viewing the South Caucasus as
its buffer zone against the Middle East, observers say Moscow is now
reasserting its presence in the region.

From: Baghdasarian

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LEADER URGES EQUALITY IN NEW TURKEY CONSTITUTION

Now Lebanon
Feb 20 2012

The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians said Monday
that members of his community must not be treated as second-class
citizens in Turkey’s new constitution.

“We want the new text to represent all of us… We want nothing more
than to be equal,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
said after addressing a session of parliament devoted to drawing up
a new basic law.

“We do not want to be second-class citizens. Minorities have
unfortunately fallen victim to such injustice. But this is starting
to change,” he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.”

The patriarch was consulted by parliament about the role of religious
minorities in the new constitution for the Muslim majority but
secular nation.

An official from the Syriac community also addressed lawmakers and
representatives from the Armenian and Jewish communities are also
due to have their views heard.

Turkey does not recognize Bartholomew I’s title as head of the world
Orthodox Christians and considers him only the spiritual head of
Turkey’s tiny Greek Orthodox minority.

Ankara said last year it aimed to draft a new constitution by mid-2012
to replace a post-coup basic law adopted in 1980, but progress has
been slow and the new document may not emerge this year.

Today the Greek Orthodox population numbers little more than 2,500
people in Istanbul. There are also some 60,000 Armenians and 15,000
Orthodox Syrians among the minority religious groups.

The government in Turkey is headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, leader of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party
(AKP).

From: Baghdasarian

SWEDISH WRESTLER ABRAHAMIAN CONFIRMS OLYMPIC BID

DigiBet

Feb 20 2012

Stockholm (dpa) – Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian on Monday confirmed
he planned to make a comeback and was aiming to compete at the 2012
London Olympics, four years after he was disqualified at the Beijing
Olympics.

The Armenia-born wrestler then won the bronze medal in the 84-kg
Greco-Roman style, but tossed it on the mat in protest at the referees,
resulting in his disqualification. The 36-year-old won silver at the
2004 Athens Olympics. He has also won gold and silver medals at the
world championships but told reporters Monday he still had a dream
of winning an Olympic gold medal.

“If I make up my mind for something, I go for it 100 per cent,”
Abrahamian said. “I will push the whole way. I am aiming for the
Olympics. I am aiming for London.”

Abrahamian said he made his comeback decision last year, but his plans
were delayed after he was injured in a car crash in Moscow, but that
he felt fine and was in training for upcoming Olympic qualifiers. dpa
lsm ar Author: Lennart Simonsson

From: A. Papazian

EDUARD SHARMAZANOV: “THERE’S NO GUARANTEE THAT ALL FRAUD WOULD BE ERADICATED IF ARMENIA TURNS TO PROPORTIONAL ELECTION SYSTEM”

Vestnik Kavkaza

Feb 20 2012
Russia

In his interview to VK, the vice-speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly, member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Eduard
Sharmazanov, commented on the party’s preparations for the upcoming
presidential elections that are due to take place this May.

– Does the RPA expect to win a parliamentary majority once again? How
is the party preparing for the campaign? What are the main points of
its pre-election program?

– If we make all the necessary efforts, we have a chance of winning
the majority of votes. We have managed the crisis and the post-crisis
situation in our country and managed to restore our economy. Today the
GDP indicator is already growing, we have successful social programs.

Of course, some branches of the economy still have a lot of problems,
but we have the potential to resolve them. Each party wants to
become the parliamentary majority, but desire is not enough, one has
to have the proper potential. A lot of parties in Armenia aspire
to win the elections, but it is our party that decisively won the
2007 parliamentary and 2008 presidential elections. The results of
the latest community administration elections showed a high level
of popular trust in our party. Not only do we hope to become the
parliamentary majority again, we also aspire to increase our presence
in the parliament. In fact, today I don’t see any other political
force in Armenia capable of winning a majority of the vote – and
polls show the same result.

– After the resignation of the parliamentary speaker, Ovik Abramyan,
it was declared that he will head the RPA’s election headquarters. But
no further information is available for now…

– The headquarters is being formed now, and this process is being
supervised by Ovik Abramyan himself. It will become operational when
it is stipulated by the law. For now party meetings are not official
staff sessions: our party doesn’t violate the law.

I won’t be surprised if some new parties win some parliamentary seats.

We are not polling experts or sociologists, so we won’t eat their
bread and try to predict the exact outcome of the elections; our
business is to provide the best pre-election agitation for the RPA.

– What flaws in its work is the RPA planning to correct after the
elections? Especially after budgetary taxation has been increased
in 2012?

– There is a myth that these additional 101 billion drams of the
budget will be gained by over-taxing the poor. This is very far from
the truth. Armenia has favorable conditions for medium-sized and small
enterprises. If we legalize the ‘underworld’ part of this business and
introduce efficient taxation, we can get ourselves the sum required.

As for flaws in our work, naturally, they exist. We are very concerned
about the level of corruption, the social polarization of society and
insufficient economic growth. Another pressing problem is the high
level of emigration. All these problems require time. We have never
denied the existence of the problems, and we are ready to fight them.

We already managed to increase pensions by 10%. We understand that
it’s not enough and we keep looking for a way to increase them again.

Some political forces promise to increase them by 10 times right away.

It’s very easy to promise, but it would be quite interesting if these
forces would actually explain how they are going to accomplish that.

– RPA’s coalition partner, the “Prosperous Armenia” party, has recently
taken up a position that can’t be called a friendly one towards
your party. Do you expect them to join the coalition again after the
elections and to support Serge Sargsyan in the 2013 presidential run?

– Being in the coalition isn’t the principle political aim of
its members. But I think that ‘Prosperous Armenia” will join
the new coalition, as it has already signed the new coalition
memorandum, stating that it’s ready to support Sargsyan in the
upcoming presidential elections. The party hasn’t made any other
official statements yet. Officially we act together. I don’t know
about “Prosperous Armenia”, but after Serge Sargsyan declared that
business and politics should be separated, the RPA decided to exclude
businessmen from its proportional voting lists. Businessmen will have
a chance to participate in the elections within the first-past-the-post
system at a local level.

– How would you comment on this paradox: all the opposition parties say
that the elections will be rigged, yet all of them plan to participate
in it.

– I think it’s not serious: to say that the elections, which haven’t
been held yet, are already rigged. If the opposition wants truly honest
and transparent elections, it shouldn’t sink to cheap populism and
make irresponsible claims like that. It seems that the opposition is
planning to take part in the ‘rigged’ elections only to say that the
people have been ‘deceived’ afterwards, after actually loosing the
election. Such an approach has nothing to do with true democracy. I
think that if our opposition continues to behave in such a manner,
even the foreign observers would understand that these claims are
nothing but an attempt to cover their own incompetence.

But of course, there are some adequate opposition politicians in
Armenia who chose the constitutional way of political competition. For
now the opposition forces have allegedly united themselves around the
idea of a 100% proportional election system. I think this demand is
nothing but a PR-move. The project has already been discussed by the
parliament, and there was no fuss around it back then. I don’t think
that changing the first-past-the-post system is a top priority for
Armenia right now. Both systems have their pros and cons, and there’s
no guarantee that all fraud would be eradicated if Armenia turns to
a proportional election system. The only thing that can grant the
transparency of any elections is political will – the authorities in
Armenia have this will, but does the opposition?

Interview by David Stepanyan, exclusively to VK .

FTA TALKS OPEN WITH YEREVAN

Europolitics.info

Feb 20 2012

The European Commission decided, on 20 February, to open negotiations
with Armenia on a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA)
in order to boost economic growth and investment. The green light for
the launch of said negotiations was given by the Council’s Trade Policy
Committee, on 17 February. “The opening of free trade negotiations
marks a turning point in our trade relations with Armenia,” noted
Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. “We are entering a new phase that
will bring our economic ties to a new level of depth and ambition,” he
added. The decision comes in recognition of Yerevan’s recent reforms in
certain strategic areas. The opening of the talks was conditional upon
Armenia fulfilling a number of “key recommendations” set out by the
Commission. “Armenia made substantial reforms notably in the fields
of technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and
the protection of intellectual property,” a Commission statement said.

The DCFTA will be part of an association agreement the EU has been
negotiating with the country since July 2010, in the framework of
the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy. The
new deal is aimed at integrating Armenia into the EU’s single market,
thus offering enhanced trade opportunities to both sides, especially
since the EU is Armenia’s first trading partner, with bilateral
trade in goods worth ~@960 million in 2010. “This is a further sign
of the strengthening of our political and economic ties,” commented
Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. “Launching DCFTA negotiations
is one more step towards closer economic integration, which is one
of the cornerstones of our relations with countries of the Eastern
Partnership,” he concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RAFIK ABELIAN, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY STORIES: ARMENIAN MATH WHIZ NOW AN ICE CREAM ENTREPRENEUR
By KIRSTEN FAIRCHILD

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Feb 20 2012
CA

SANTA CRUZ — When Rafik Abelian was growing up, his ice cream choices
were limited to chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Abelian also could only enjoy
ice cream in the summertime, the only time of year it was available.

Now 54, Abelian has truly broadened his ice cream horizons. In 2003
he opened a Cold Stone Creamery store on Pacific Avenue. As part of a
franchise, Abelian has eight flavors of ice cream that he must make
fresh daily, but there are between 100 and 150 additional flavors
that he can select to be made as well.

“What I’m eating the most of right now is a combination of dark
chocolate and coffee ice creams with walnuts, pecans and almonds
swirled together — yum, yum, yum,” said Abelian, a Scotts Valley
resident.

Opening and operating an ice cream franchise was a career move Abelian
never anticipated.

His affinity for mathematics was what brought him to the U.S. at the
age of 21, but he left Cal Poly Pomona a few credits shy of earning
his degree in industrial engineering to take an entry-level position
at Silicon Systems, Inc.

He was transferred from the company’s Tustin-based wafer-fabrication
plant to one on Santa Cruz’s Westside in 1995. Texas Instruments
bought Silicon Systems in 1997, and when the plant closed in late 2001,
Abelian held the title of planning manager.

Abelian turned down an offer to transfer within the company to remain
in the area. Unable to find similar

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work, Abelian began to contemplate changing careers. When a friend
suggested he open a Cold Stone Creamery store, Abelian didn’t even
know what she was talking about.

“The former Watsonville store hadn’t opened then, so I had never
heard of it,” Abelian said. “But then just a few days later my wife
and I happened to be at the Great Mall in Milpitas, and there was a
Cold Stone Creamery. I thought it was the best thing ever.”

Founded in 1988 by Donald and Susan Sutherland, Cold Stone Creamery
began as one store in Tempe, Ariz. The franchise is known for its
freshly made ice cream that has “mix-ins” consisting of dry and/or
wet toppings folded into it. The toppings are mixed together on top
of a 5-foot-long frozen granite stone.

“Any mix-in that goes into the ice cream, whether it is bananas
or strawberries or walnuts or chocolate chips, should have its own
flavor,” Abelian said. “We want a freshly roasted almond in chocolate
ice cream to still be crunchy and taste like a freshly roasted almond
while the ice cream tastes like chocolate. That’s what makes our ice
cream so good.”

BOX: GETTING TO KNOW Rafik Abelian

ESSENTIALS: A Scotts Valley resident, Abelian, 54, was born in Yerevan,
Armenia. Moved to the U.S. at 21. Married since 1987 to his wife
Magdalena. Has a daughter Karla Rodriguez, 32, who lives in Texas
with her family; son Jonathan, 24, lives in Scotts Valley. Opened
his Cold Stone Creamery store in 2003.

HOBBIES: Plays Sudoku, chess and mahjong. Listens to the Eagles,
Jim Croce and James Taylor.

NIGHTLY DESSERT GROWING UP: Fruit

FAVORITE FRUIT: Bananas

ON WORKING downtown: ‘Pacific Avenue is the Times Square of Santa
Cruz. It’s just so alive and vibrant. It’s never boring. Some people
don’t like it, but I’m happy to walk around and enjoy the other
businesses. It’s worked for me.’

NEWEST MENU ADDITION: ‘We just started blueberry-pomegranate frozen
yogurt. On Monday we made raspberry frozen yogurt for the first time.

I haven’t even tried it yet.’

TOP-SELLING SIGNATURE CREATION: Birthday Cake Remix: cake batter ice
cream with rainbow sprinkles, brownie and fudge.

WHAT’S TAPED ABOVE HIS DESK: A June 12, 2008 receipt for $24.50. ‘A
90-pound UCSC student came in and ordered a large ice cream with every
single mix-in we had out. We had 29. We had to serve it to him in a
half-gallon container. He sat down and ate the whole thing. It was
a dare. He came back a year later and told me that he was so sick
after he left. I thought he might have been.’

WHY NEW YEAR’S EVE REVELERS LOVE HIM: ‘We usually stay open until 2
a.m. This year, we stayed open to 3 a.m.’

ABELIAN’S COLD STONE CREAMERY STORE: 1129 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.

Call 423-7015.